Defending champions Alexis and Félix LEBRUN of France continued their title defence at the European Championships in Ljubljana, while Serbia’s Uroš NINKOVIC and Zsolt PETO celebrated a remarkable breakthrough as the Men’s Doubles quarterfinal line-up was completed. Germany’s Benedikt DUDA and Dang QIU produced an extraordinary comeback, Moldova’s Vladislav URSU and Andrei PUTUNTICA survived a five-game battle, and Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Martin ALLEGRO also came through a dramatic encounter.
See the photos by Jure MARKOVEC here.
The LEBRUN brothers faced a challenging test against Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC and Deni KOZUL, with the home favourites pushing them all the way in the opening game. The French pair eventually prevailed 15-13 before taking the next two games 11-9 and 11-8 to complete a 3-0 victory.
Despite the straight-games scoreline, the match was far from comfortable for the defending champions.
“It’s always difficult to play against Darko and Kozul. It was a tough match. We won the first game by a very narrow margin, and the second was also close. It could have been much more difficult, so we are very happy to win 3-0,” said Alexis LEBRUN.
The victory keeps the French brothers on course to defend the European title they won in Linz two years ago.
“We are still on the road. We are in the quarterfinals, so we are happy about that. We have just beaten a very strong pair, which gives us confidence for the rest of the tournament. We will see what happens next,” said Felix LEBRUN.
With both brothers competing in singles and doubles, managing their demanding schedule is another challenge.
“I’m very happy to finish early today! I hope I won’t have to play the last match of the evening session every time. Of course, competing in three draws is not easy, but for the moment I feel good,” said Alexis.
Felix added: “It’s a tough schedule, of course, but we are starting to get used to it. The last time I had a similar situation, travelling from Asia to Europe, I played really well. I hope it will be the same this week.”
One of the most emotional victories of the day belonged to Serbia’s Zsolt PETO and 18-year-old Uroš NINKOVIC, who defeated Slovakia’s Jakub ZELINKA and Lubomir PISTEJ in a five-game thriller.
The Serbian pair, competing together for the first time, took the opening game 11-8 before the Slovaks levelled. PETO and NINKOVIC regained the advantage by taking the third 12-10, but their opponents forced a decider. The fifth game was another tense battle, with the Serbians eventually prevailing 13-11 to secure their place among Europe’s top eight pairs.
For NINKOVIC, who turns 19 in approximately ten days, the achievement was almost impossible to comprehend.
“This is an enormous achievement for me. Honestly, I never imagined I could reach the last eight in Europe in any category, let alone at senior level. I haven’t even achieved that in juniors this year! It’s really something special, and I still can’t quite believe what we’ve accomplished,” said NINKOVIC.
The young Serbian admitted that the closing stages tested his nerves.
“We were leading 1-0, then 2-1, and we also had the lead in the fifth game. At 11-10, I was definitely nervous, but fortunately I had my more experienced partner beside me to take responsibility when it mattered most.”
For the experienced PETO, the unexpected success has made their first tournament together particularly memorable.
“It’s an unbelievable story because this is actually the first time we’ve played together. At the beginning, I thought we would just enjoy ourselves, play some doubles and see how far we could go. But here we are, one victory away from a medal!” said PETO.
The Serbian player, who revealed that he had been ill at the beginning of the Championships, hopes their remarkable run is not over.
“I was actually ill at the start of the Championships, and quite a few people have already joked that I play better when I’m sick than when I’m healthy! We’ve had some incredible moments throughout the tournament. I wouldn’t say we’ve won because of luck, but perhaps luck has finally started to follow us a little. I hope this isn’t where our journey stops. We want to keep going tomorrow. We want a medal,” said PETO.
Germany’s Benedikt DUDA and Dang QIU staged another remarkable comeback, recovering from two games down to defeat Russia’s Evgenii TIKHONOV and Vladimir SIDORENKO 3-2 (8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-0).
TIKHONOV and SIDORENKO made an excellent start, taking the opening two games and moving within one game of the quarterfinals. However, DUDA and QIU responded with greater consistency, narrowing the deficit before levelling the contest. The deciding game was completely one-sided, with the German pair winning 11-0 to complete an extraordinary turnaround.
Moldova’s Vladislav URSU and Andrei PUTUNTICA also needed five games to secure their quarterfinal place, overcoming Germany’s Wim VERDONSCHOT and Andre BERTELSMEIER 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4).
The German combination twice took the lead, winning the opening game and then edging a closely contested third 12-10. However, the Moldovan pair responded strongly on both occasions. After dominating the fourth game, URSU and PUTUNTICA carried their momentum into the decider.
“The match was very evenly balanced throughout. We were always close, at 5-5 or 6-6. I think the turning point came in the fifth game when we were leading 5-4. I played a slightly unusual backhand shot towards the middle to make it 6-4. I felt that point gave us a lot of confidence. Otherwise, the whole match was extremely close,” explained PUTUNTICA.
The Moldovan duo, both left-handed, arrived in Ljubljana without particularly high expectations in Doubles, but their impressive run has continued into the last eight.
“We came here as two left-handed players without particularly high expectations. We had played together before and performed well, but against stronger opponents it was always difficult. So far, things have been going well. This was actually the first time we lost two games, as we had won all our previous matches 3-0. We just want to keep enjoying ourselves. That’s our goal,” said URSU.
Sweden’s Anton KÄLLBERG and Kristian KARLSSON overcame Portugal’s Marcos FREITAS and Tiago APOLONIA 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 15-13) in another closely contested encounter.
The Swedish pair took a tight opening game before the Portuguese combination levelled the contest. KÄLLBERG and KARLSSON regained the advantage in the third, but faced another stern test in the fourth, where they had to save several game points before prevailing 15-13.
“It wasn’t easy at all. You could see from the scores, 11-9 and 15-13, how close it was. We had to save several game points in the final game. It was a very tight 3-1 victory, and we are extremely happy that we managed to win the match the way we did in the end,” said KÄLLBERG.
KARLSSON is already looking forward to the next challenge against familiar opponents.
“We know our next opponents very well. We all live in Düsseldorf and have been practising together there for a long time. It will be a very tough match, and we are looking forward to it,” said KARLSSON.
France will have another pair in the quarterfinals after Esteban DORR and Florian BOURRASSAUD defeated Sweden’s Elias RANEFUR and Truls MOREGARD 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9).
The Swedish combination took the opening game, but DORR and BOURRASSAUD responded by winning three consecutive games. All three were closely contested, with the French pair showing greater composure at the decisive moments to secure their place in the last eight.
Belgium’s Adrien RASSENFOSSE and Martin ALLEGRO also produced an impressive comeback, defeating Croatia’s Andrej GACINA and Ivor BAN 3-2 (6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-5).
The Croatian pair established a two-game advantage and appeared to be heading towards victory, but the Belgians fought back strongly. After taking the third game, RASSENFOSSE and ALLEGRO survived a tense fourth, winning 13-11 to force a decider. They then took control of the fifth game to complete their comeback.
Finland’s Alex NAUMI and Benedek OLAH completed the quarterfinal line-up with a 3-1 victory over the Czech-Croatian combination of Simon BRHEL and Luka BENKO (11-7, 14-12, 7-11, 11-8).
The Finnish pair established a two-game advantage after edging a tight second game 14-12. BRHEL and BENKO responded by winning the third, but NAUMI and OLAH regained control in the fourth to secure their place among the last eight.
Men’s Doubles – Round of 16 results
- Félix LEBRUN / Alexis LEBRUN (FRA) – Darko JORGIC / Deni KOZUL (SLO) 3-0 (15-13, 11-9, 11-8)
- Benedikt DUDA / Dang QIU (GER) – Evgenii TIKHONOV / Vladimir SIDORENKO (ETTU2) 3-2 (8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-0)
- Vladislav URSU / Andrei PUTUNTICA (MDA) – Wim VERDONSCHOT / Andre BERTELSMEIER (GER) 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4)
- Anton KÄLLBERG / Kristian KARLSSON (SWE) – Marcos FREITAS / Tiago APOLONIA (POR) 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 15-13)
- Esteban DORR / Florian BOURRASSAUD (FRA) – Elias RANEFUR / Truls MOREGARD (SWE) 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9)
- Adrien RASSENFOSSE / Martin ALLEGRO (BEL) – Andrej GACINA / Ivor BAN (CRO) 3-2 (6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-5)
- Alex NAUMI / Benedek OLAH (FIN) – Simon BRHEL / Luka BENKO (CZE/CRO) 3-1 (11-7, 14-12, 7-11, 11-8)
- Zsolt PETO / Uroš NINKOVIC (SRB) – Jakub ZELINKA / Lubomir PISTEJ (SVK) 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 7-11, 13-11)
